Older schoolchildren typically perform better on academic achievement tests than younger students in the same classes. Studies looking at an array of countries, grade spans, and subjects have found that age differences of even a few months do matter. Relative-age effects introduce an arbitrary bias that favors older students. These effects are a…

James R. Flynn is an accidental IQ specialist. In the early 1980s, the American-born political scientist thought he might spend a few pages in a planned book on "how to defend humane ideals" grappling with the argument that the gap in IQ scores between blacks and whites was genetically rooted. It was not his first foray into that subject, but this…

This paper presents the theoretical and empirical foundations of the "TOEFL Junior"® assessment and its development process. The TOEFL Junior test was developed to address the increasing need for objective measures of English language proficiency for young adolescent learners, who are being introduced to English as a second or foreign…

For more than 25 years, Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) has produced the New Jersey KIDS COUNT Data Book, an annual statewide profile of child well-being. With KIDS COUNT represented in each state and several U.S. territories, ACNJ is part of a comprehensive effort to not only track how well kids are faring across New Jersey, but also…

Flynn has proposed a grand integrative theory, which he calls "scientific spectacles," to explain the phenomenon of rising IQ scores across multiple decades known as the Flynn effect (FE). In his theory, he purports that modern society has placed increasing value and emphasis on the application and education of scientific…

An early warning system is a data-based tool that helps predict which students are on the right path towards eventual graduation or other grade-appropriate goals. Through such systems, stakeholders at the school and district levels can view data from a wide range of perspectives and gain a deeper understanding of student data. This "Statewide…

Data is reported as percentages in 4th, 8th, and 12th grades based on proficiency in the subject ("Below Basic," "At Basic," "At Proficient", or "At Advanced"). "Low-income" on this data sheet means students who qualify for the National School Lunch Program. Both math and science data are from 2009…

The Extended Version of the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status-II was completed by 434 high school students from the United States and India. Students were male and female between the ages of 13 and 18 years. Asian Indian adolescents were found to be more diffused, foreclosed, and in moratorium in identity formation than adolescents in the…

This annual snapshot of child well-being is intended to inform policymakers and the public of the progress of and challenges to ensuring the health, welfare, and safety of all children. Following an introduction, this report contains seven sections: (1) The State of Children and Families, including data on births and family structure; (2) The…

This annual snapshot of child well-being is intended to inform policymakers and the public of the progress of and challenges to ensuring the health, welfare, and safety of all children. Following a special section on the racial disparities that exist among New Jersey children based on the Annie E. Casey Foundation's "Race for Results"…

California has one of the latest kindergarten entry cutoff dates in the nation, December 2, which effectively allows children as young as four years, nine months to enter kindergarten. Proponents of moving the cutoff date to earlier in the year contend that children who enter kindergarten before age five are not developmentally mature enough yet…

The California class size reduction program provided schools with cash rewards for K-3 classes of 20 or fewer students. I show how program rules made it possible for schools to save money by using mixed-grade classes to meet class size reduction obligations while maintaining larger average class sizes. I also show that this smoothing of students…

Research on gender differences in creativity, including creativity test scores, creative achievements, and self-reported creativity is reviewed, as are theories that have been offered to explain such differences and available evidence that supports or refutes such theories. This is a difficult arena in which to conduct research, but there is a…

According to the 2004 National Assessment of Educational Progress, males who have made it through 12 years of school have significantly poorer reading skills than their female peers. In every age group, boys have been scoring lower than girls annually for more than three decades on U.S. Department of Education reading tests. The longer boys are in…

This study examined registered nurses' overall attitudes and homophobia towards gays and lesbians in the workplace. Homophobia scores, represented by the Attitudes Toward Lesbians and Gay Men (ATLG) Scale, was the dependent variable. Overall homophobia scores were assessed among a randomized stratified sample of registered nurses licensed in the…